King of Kings Lord of Lords

The world as we knew it is changing, today our world continues to go away from God and God’s laws. We treat God’s commandments as a bad thing for us rather than a good things. The focus of this study is to address a very controversial issue within the church today “are we under the law or under grace”. In the letters to the Galatians & Colossians churches. What Law was Paul referring to?  The Ten Commandments or the Law of Moses.  This is a very critical issue because it touches on the salvation & sanctification of the believer.  Jesus says that just professing his name does not make get you into the kingdom of heaven. We are free from the bondage of the Law of Moses but we are to walk by the spirit of God and follow all his commandments.
Matthew 7:21-23“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’  Jesus predicted false doctrines Matthew 24:24-25 24 For false Christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand. Since the fall of man there has been many false doctrines & false prophets already out into the world, twisting the word of god, do not be deceived the spirit of the Antichrist has been operating among us for hundreds of years; look around the church now days it is not the same church as the church that Christ started with the disciples, read the books of Acts & The Epistles since Constantine around 323 AD the church took a different direction, today the enemy is getting bolder in his tactics and the gospel keeps getting more dilute. The question is what do we follow John 10:27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.  Are we still under The Law of Moses? The answer is no. Hebrews 8:13 In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.  What does that means? What is the New Covenant  Hebrews 8:10-12  For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 11 None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. 12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds[b] I will remember no more.”[c]. Does that sounds like god did away with his laws under the new covenant? Not at all, on the contrary the old covenant was written by the finger of God on a tablet, but today as stated on the scripture God’s laws have been place in our minds and written into the hearts of the believer. Today look around you the world is filled with hatred, murder, violence, wars, lying, cheating, and sexual immorality greed, selfishness and more, why do you think the world is so mess up? Because we are getting away from god’s laws, but yet most professing Christians instead of taking a stand for God, claim that they are not required to keep the Commandments. Few seem to realize that the problems of the world are a direct result of not keeping these laws. Christians today are not required to follow any Commandments that is correct; we shall walk in them by the spirit of god. 

Jesus1Live.com

If a person professes to follow Jesus Christ and believes the Bible is the inspired Word of God, they should look to the Bible for the correct answer to these important questions. A word of caution and advice. When you read the bible please pray for the spirit of god to teach you his word, read before and after the scriptures use by different people to understand the full context of the message. The bible can be like a double edge sword and you must read and understand both edges. Do not worry when you come into the presence of God the Holy Spirit will reveal the truth to those that are truly seeking the truth.

God’s Laws have been in existence since creation, why? Because he is a Holy God. Holiness is a term not very popular in the church this days but Peter write us 1 Peter 15-16 He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”[c]  . We now are going to take a quick journey into biblical history looking at our God and his laws, in the book of Genesis you will find several instances where even thought it was not written God’s laws were in effect. In the garden you see Adam & Eve violating a specific commandment from God, The sin of Cain against his brother Abel, The Great flood & Sodom & Gomorrah. In the book of Exodus God makes his covenant with Israel and we get the written commandments or also call the Law of Moses.

These laws are the foundation of all law in the Bible. The first four pertain to love toward God, and the last six pertain to love toward our fellow humans. 

DID CHRIST DO AWAY WITH THE COMMANDMENTS?

We realize that human life and relationships between people must be based on love and directed by laws that govern these relationships in order to be successful 1 Corinthians 13:8 Love never fails. However, because God has offered the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ, is it true that he did away with the Ten Commandments? Is it true that Christians should no longer be concerned with these precepts and principles? What are the commandment that we shall follow?

Matthew 5:17 is the scripture that is most quoted in order to show that Jesus did away with the Law. However, Jesus himself said, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them" .

Some theologians and professing Christian leaders say that, in fulfilling the Law, Jesus did away with it. However, does this make any sense? How could Jesus not destroy the Law and still destroy it?

In order to prove that this scripture does not say that the law has been done away with, it is important to research the original language of the text. The English word 'destroy' is translated from the Greek word 'kataluoo', which means 'tear down', 'demolish', 'do away with', 'abolish', 'annul', 'make invalid'. Jesus said that we were not even to think that he would destroy or abolish the law! Yet, how many millions of professing Christians not only think he did, but actually believe it?

The English word 'fulfill' is translated from the Greek word 'elaruoo', which means 'to fill to the full', 'to complete', 'to make full', 'to fulfill by doing'. It is impossible to fill something up and empty and destroy it at the same time.

The following verse Matthew 5:18 "I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smaller letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished”.

Is heaven and earth still here? Yes! Has everything in God's Word been fulfilled? No! Is the Law of God still in effect? Yes! Jesus says it is! But now it is in our minds and written in the hearts of the believer.

Jesus continues to explain the laws and commandments of God:

Matthew 5:19 "Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least [Greek: 'less than nothing'] in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commandments will be called great in the kingdom of heaven".

THE LAW THAT CHRIST FULFILL :

The book of Mathews, Colossians and Galatians make reference to a fulfillment & observance of the Law. Matthew 5:17  “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. If you read the book of Galatians 2:11-20  Now when Peter[a] had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; 12 for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. 13 And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, “If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you[b] compel Gentiles to live as Jews?[c] 15 We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, 16 knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.17 “But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not! 18 For if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. 19 For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.” Here Paul clearly confronts Peter, James & Barnabas for their behavior following customs from the "Mosaic Law" or also known as the "Law of Moses" the rest of the book of  Galatians explains to us the freedom that we now experience thru or Lord Jesus without out all the chains of bondage set by the "Mosaic Law " to observe  all the ordinance. rites & rituals Colossians 2:14-19  having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.16 So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, 17 which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. 18 Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not[d] seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God. Here Paul is writing to the Colossians and specifically making reference to the "Mosaic Law" and no to the 10 Commandments. 

THE TWO GREAT COMMANDMENTS

Remember earlier in this study we stated that the commandments can be group into two groups the first groups the love for God and the second group the love for ourselves and our neighbors.  In Matthew 22 Jesus Christ says that the whole law was held together by just two commandments:

Matt.22:33-40 Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And second is like to it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets".

Paul tell us Romans 13:8 8 Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,”[a] “You shall not covet,”[b] and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”[c] 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. Paul in this particular context is addressing the love we shall have towards our neighbors the second great commandments and not addressing the first and greatest commandment to love our God above all things; I point this out because false teachers use this scripture to justify the violation of the first four commandments. The devil hates the fact that God love us so much that he wants to do anything he can to love our God back.

WHAT DID JESUS FULFILL IN RELATION TO THE LAW AND THE COMMANDMENTS?

We know that Jesus Christ came to fulfill (bring to pass) the old covenant and all the prophecies concerning his first coming. The prophecies about his second coming are yet to be fulfilled.

But, what did he mean about fulfilling the law and commandments? The prophecy of Christ coming to fulfill the law is found in the Book of Isaiah:

"The Lord [Jesus Christ] is well pleased for his righteousness sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honorable" (Isa.42:21).

The English word 'magnify' is translated from a Hebrew word that literally means 'to make great' or ‘cause to be great'. This is exactly what Jesus Christ did to fulfill the law to its fullest. He magnified the law by showing how good and beneficial it is.

 God (The great I am) gave his laws to Israel, which includes the Ten Commandments. When he gave these laws, he fully intended for Israel to keep the 'letter of the law.' In return, they would be blessed with tremendous physical blessings. See Deut.28.

"Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever!" (Deut.5:29 NIV).

Although the Israelites understood the physical basis for keeping the law, they did not comprehend the spiritual intent and meaning of the laws and commandments of God.

A part of the plan of God for the salvation of humanity called for Jesus Christ to come and explain the spiritual intent and meaning of these laws and commandments. This is precisely what he did and it is recorded in Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7, and Luke chapter 6.

All of the teachings of Jesus Christ concerning the commandments of God bring the full spiritual meaning and intent into focus!

OTHER TEACHINGS OF CHRIST ABOUT THE COMMANDMENTS

The question of eternal life is on the minds of a lot of people today, just as it was on the minds of people during Jesus' day. A young man asked Jesus about this very subject:

"Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?" "Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments" (Matt.19:16-17 NIV).

If Jesus had come to abolish the commandments, why did he tell this young man to keep them? However, Jesus told the young man in no uncertain terms that, if he expected to receive eternal life, he must keep the commandments

Jesus continues his answer to the young man:

"Which ones?" [which commandments] the man inquired. Jesus replied, "Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself" (Matt.19:18-19 NIV).

Part of these instructions are from the Ten Commandments, and the instruction "to love your neighbor" is from the covenant between God and national Israel (Lev.19:18). This shows that eternal life is not gained only through obedience to the Ten Commandments, but one must also love one's neighbor because  all of  the commandments are based on the principle of love (Matt.22:37-40).

The young man answers, "All these I have kept, the young man said. What do I still lack?" (v.20). Apparently the young man thought that he would receive eternal life immediately, because he had done these things to the best of his ability; however, "Jesus answered, "If  you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me" (v21).   

This whole account shows that we must keep the commandments if we are to receive eternal life. Moreover, we must not only keep the commandments but also totally devote our lives to God and follow Jesus Christ without reservation.

DO YOU LOVE GOD? HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT HE LOVES YOU?

Jesus says that if we love him and his God, the Father, we will keep his commandments:

"Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him. . . Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching.  My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me" (Jn.14:21, 23-24).

Consider also how Jesus says that we can remain in his love: "If  you obey my commands, you will remain [remain and live in] in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love" (Jn.15:10 NIV).  This shows that we are commanded by Jesus Christ to follow his example. This was understood and taught by the apostle Peter: "To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps" (1.Pet.2:21 NIV).

NEW TESTAMENT TEACHINGS ABOUT GOD'S COMMANDMENTS

If we keep the commandments, we show our love for the Father and Jesus Christ, and they will love us. However, if we do not keep the commandments by transgressing God's law, we show that we hate God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ!

Jesus says, "You are my friends if you do what I command" (Jn.15:14 NIV). You are a friend of Jesus Christ if  you do the things that he has commanded. But, you are his enemy if you do not keep his commandments: "Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior" (Col.1:21 NIV).

This is what every human mind is truly like:

"For  from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit,  lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All  these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean'" (Mk.7:21-23 NIV).

Sin begins in the mind as Jesus says, which is why we have to change our way of thinking and the way we live our lives. This change must come from within us—within our minds and hearts. Repentance must come from the heart. One must also accept the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for forgiveness of  sins. Only then can we love and obey God from our hearts.

God's solution to removing sin is not the removal or destruction of the commandments that show us what sin is, but a change of heart from within! Once a person has repented, been baptized, and received the Father's holy spirit, God's purpose is to truly establish his law within the minds and hearts of men and women. Through the holy spirit, Christ in us motivates and leads us, which enables us to truly keep the commandments.

This is how we are truly reconciled to God the Father. There is a change of mind, which is called conversion. One is converted from a hostile, sinning, evil-minded person into a loving, commandment-keeping person who does the will of God. After conversion, one is no longer an enemy of God!

If you are not doing the will of the Father, you are not a friend of Jesus Christ and God the Father. If you are not a friend of Jesus and God the Father, you are an enemy and will be destroyed instead of being saved:

"But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them [through his holy spirit and the keeping of his commandments]—bring them here and kill them in front of me" (Lk.19:27 NIV).

The apostle John wrote a stinging rebuke to those who say that they know Jesus Christ and claim to follow him, but do not keep the commandments: "The man who says, I know him [Jesus Christ] but does not do what he commands [does not keep the commandments] is a liar, and the truth is not in him" (1.Jn.2:4 NIV). The Book of Revelation shows that liars will not be in the Kingdom of God, but they will be burned up in the Lake of Fire! (Rev.21:8, 27; 22:15).

"But if anyone obeys [Greek: is keeping] his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how [that is, by this] we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did" (1.Jn.2:5-6 NIV).

If we say that we are Christians, we should follow Christ's example of how to live our lives. If we refuse to do this, we are liars and hypocrites.

Will you believe the teachings of men or the teachings of God's Word through Jesus Christ? There is no salvation unless you believe God! The Bible clearly teaches that if we truly love God, we will keep his commandments:

"This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out [practicing and living by] his commands. This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome" (1.Jn.5:2-3 NIV).

BE HONEST

An honest look at the teachings of Jesus Christ and the apostles leaves no doubt that, if we want to follow God's way of life, we must keep his commandments!

The reason most people, which includes most professing Christians, do not want to keep the commandments is not because these laws are harsh or bad, it is because of the hostility people hold in their minds toward God and his law: "The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God" (Rom.8:7-8 NIV). If we say the commandments are no longer in effect, we disagree with God the Father and Jesus Christ, which means that we do not want them in our lives.

Should a Christian keep the commandments of God? The answer found in the Bible is that one cannot be a Christian unless one keeps all of the commandments.

Romans 7:7-25 NIV

"What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, "Do not covet." But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from law, sin is dead. Once I was alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.

"Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! But in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.

"We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

"So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin."

The Ten Commandments as they were given to the tribes of Israel:

Exodus 20 New King James Version (NKJV)

The Ten Commandments

20 And God spoke all these words, saying:

2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

3 “You shall have no other gods before Me.

4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.

8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

13 “You shall not murder.

14 “You shall not commit adultery.

15 “You shall not steal.

16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.” . This 10 Commandments still stand today and can be fulfill by the actions Love your God and Love your neighbor. Blessings be upon you.